Growing Like Ourselves
by angel85qcca
Summary: Sequel to Never A Kid. Is everyone capable of change? Damien and Jenny decide they want to grow, and who better to help them become better people than each other?
1. Chapter 1

**A.N.: It's finally here, the sequel to Never A Kid! Remember, this takes place before Damien comes back during season 3, so none of that stuff with Erik happened. Major thanks to my beta starzee, who doesn't even like Damien but agreed to beta this for me anyways. Your rock!**

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><p><em>"We grow neither better nor worse as we get old, but more like ourselves" -<em> May Lamberton Becker

Jenny was sitting on the couch in the living room of the Humphrey-Bass-Van der Woodsen penthouse, working on a sketch. Serena and Erik had gone out to do some shopping but she declined their offer for her to join them. Ever since she had been kidnapped and drugged by Juliet Sharp just a few days ago, she hated going out to crowded places and Barney's during a sale was probably the worst place for her to be. Rufus and Lily were upstairs discussing business, whatever that meant, and she relished in the quietness of the apartment.

When she heard the elevator doors opening, Jenny thought that Erik and Serena were already done with Barney's and had decided to come home right away. She was surprised, however, to see Damien walk in and he seemed just as surprised to see her.

Jenny's throat dried up as soon as she saw him, but she still managed to stand up and greet him. "Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," he answered back.

He looked different from the last time she saw him at the hospital. His hair was shorter and he seemed wearier.

"I didn't think you'd be here," he continued, looking everywhere but at her.

"What do you mean? I live here," she said, the confusion evident on her face.

Damien smiled and looked down. "I know, but Rufus and Lily asked me to come over to talk and I didn't think you'd be here," he repeated.

As if on cue, Lily and Rufus came around the corner and down the stairs.

"Good, you're here!" Lily said. She smiled that polite but warm smile she gave people she knew she had to be nice to. She offered to take his coat and Jenny watched as everyone sat down in the living room. It took a second for her to figure out that she was still standing, so she sat down as well.

"First of all, thank you for coming. You must wonder why you're here," Lily said. Rufus looked like he wanted to be anywhere but sitting on that couch. "Well, we wanted to thank you for helping Serena and Jenny. We are forever indebted to you, of course, but what we really want is to know what happened. We know what you told the police, but we're aware that you probably didn't tell them everything. And some things contradict Juliet's statement so... We really hope you can clear all of this up for us, unofficially, since the girls don't remember anything," she explained.

Damien took a deep breath and looked at Jenny. When he looked at her, she could almost see what he had seen then, as if the image of her lying on the hotel room bed was imprinted on his pupils for the world to see.

"I sold Juliet the drugs she used to drug the girls," he admitted.

Rufus looked like he was about to jump at him, but Lily stayed very calm.

"I didn't know what she was going to use them for, obviously," he continued. "I just thought she was going to have a party. I didn't even deliver them to her. But she called me two days later, asking for more. I got a little suspicious because she'd never bought anything from me before," he explained.

"Wait a minute," Rufus said, "that day, when you were here, it was your drugs that we found? They weren't your father's?" he asked.

"No, they were mine," Damien admitted reluctantly.

"So, you lied; and that whole thing about your father," Rufus trailed off.

"No, that was true. Unfortunately, I didn't lie to you about that. It's complicated, I just... To continue, after Juliet called me the second time, I went to deliver the drugs myself. Because I'm the son of an ambassador, I get diplomatic immunity, so if I get caught it's not that big of a deal. When I got to the hotel room everything was quiet and Juliet was acting weird. And that's when I saw the girls on the bed. Serena was moving but Jenny was very still and very quiet. So I called 9-1-1 and Juliet left."

"Well, thank you for clearing that up. It all makes sense now, I suppose, except for why you called the police when you knew you would get caught," Lily added.

"I just wanted the girls to be okay. I don't know if you know this, but I knew Serena from boarding school. And Jenny, well, you know about me and Jenny. And even though things didn't end well between us, I still care about her," he said sincerely, looking at Jenny for the first time since the beginning of the conversation.

"Well, like I said, we are indebted to you. I don't have any more questions. Jenny?" Lily asked, looking at her.

"Are you in trouble?" Jenny asked bluntly.

"No, I'm fine. Like I said: diplomatic immunity." Damien's lips stretched but didn't quite form a smile.

"They can't charge you, but they can send you out of the country, can't they?" Lily asked.

"Yes, but I gave them some information they could use. That and they need me here to testify at Juliet's trial. As long as I stay out of trouble, I can stay." He shrugged.

"Thank you for coming over, Damien. If there's anything we can ever do for you..." Lily said as she rose.

"Well, there is something. I'd like to take Jenny out to dinner with your permission," he said.

Jenny recognized the son of the ambassador, the one who knew how and when to cash in favours.

"Dinner?" Rufus asked, not hiding his disbelief and anger very well.

"It's just that things were left hanging between us and I think it'd be good to talk it out," Damien explained.

"Just dinner?" Rufus asked cocking an eyebrow. It was obvious he didn't like this one bit but Lily was giving him a look and he didn't really want to argue.

"Just dinner. In a public place, where there are plenty of witnesses. And no drugs whatsoever."

No one laughed at his attempt at a joke.

"I suppose that would be alright. Jenny?" Lily turned to her step-daughter.

"I'd really like that," Jenny answered and turned to look at Damien.

"Good. Tomorrow? I'll pick you up at eight," he said as Rufus handed him his coat.

Jenny didn't know what Damien had in store for her, but she knew one thing for sure: she would not be bored.


	2. Chapter 2

**A.N.: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, I know Damien isn't a popular character! I hope you find him somewhat redeemable in this story.**

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><p>As Jenny was getting ready for her dinner with Damien, she thought back to how their relationship started. If she was honest with herself, she knew that she had been seeing him initially mainly because everyone told her not to. She did come to really care about him though; he made her feel special and that was hard to resist. She had been so high that night when he came for her and punched Nate. Nobody had ever done anything like that for her before and the memory of it made her a little fluttery. In fact, it felt to Jenny like nobody had ever fought for her other than him. Her mother left to be with another man and didn't even bother to ask Jenny if she would prefer to go to Hudson with her rather than stay with Dan and her dad. Nate left her as soon as her brother found out about them which hurt her more than she cared to admit. And, her dad sent her to Hudson because he didn't want to have to deal with her anymore.<p>

She had just narrowed her choice of outfits to two dresses when Eric walked into her room. She had laid them both on the bed and was looking at them, unable to decide. Eric walked up and stood next to her.

"The black one," he said decisively.

"Really?" Jenny asked, looking at him. When he nodded, she took the other dress and placed it back in her closet. She started looking through her shoes to find the ones that matched the dress.

"So, I hear you're staying," Eric said warmly. Jenny gave him a small smile.

"I just want to be close to my family again," Jenny said. "After what happened... I don't know how to explain it. I'm just relieved that Dad and Blair said it was okay," she admitted though she hated the fact the Queen B had that power over her.

"I can't believe she agreed," Eric said, shaking his head.

"The whole drugging thing freaked her out I think," Jenny said. "I mean, I doubt we're ever going to be best friends, but it seems she's forgiven me." She sat on the bed and sighed. "Plus, I think Serena asked her to," Jenny hypothesized.

"I can't believe you're going to dinner with Damien."

Jenny got back up and started looking through her jewellery, trying to find the earrings Damien had given her when they were together. They would go nicely with the dress, she thought. She didn't bother commenting on what he said.

"Do you still have feelings for him?" her brother asked hesitantly.

Jenny paused. She hadn't really asked herself that question and she didn't know how to answer it.

"I don't know," she said, turning to look at Eric, "I guess mostly I'm just curious to find out why he wants to go out in the first place. I think it really freaked him out, seeing Serena and me in that hotel room. But he didn't ask her out, he asked me. What do you think that means?" she asked confused.

"I don't know. He was never involved with Serena, you know. Not even in boarding school," Erik pointed out.

"I know." She nodded. In all honesty, it was difficult finding a guy that Serena _hadn't_ already had at some point.

Eric left and Jenny got dressed. She did her hair and makeup, but kept it light. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she thought she looked grown up. She felt different, heavier somehow since being kidnapped. Nothing was easy anymore, not even going to a restaurant. She was afraid there would be too many people there, too much noise. She didn't know if she'd be able to handle it. But she wanted to move on with her life; she didn't want what happened to her to define her forever.

Before she knew it, her Dad was calling out that Damien had arrived. She took a deep breath, let it out and walked over to the foyer. Damien turned around as she walked over to him and she could see his black suit and the blue tie underneath his long jacket.

"You look beautiful," he said, and she could tell from his eyes that he was sincere. Everyone else had always called her 'pretty' or 'hot' or 'gorgeous'... Jenny was sure he was the only one to ever call her 'beautiful' and it made her smile softly.

Her Dad cleared his throat. "I trust that you'll be home by midnight, Jenny?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad." She wasn't a child and she wished he wouldn't act like she was.

Damien helped her put her coat on and they both got on the elevator. When they were outside, she was glad to see he had brought a limo, since cabs made her nervous too. They both got in the back and Jenny started playing with her hands.

"You're nervous," he said with a reassuring smile.

"It's just... I haven't really been out since the hospital. I get anxious when there're a lot of people around, I guess," she confessed.

"Oh, I hadn't thought about that." He seemed taken aback by her statement, almost like he was worried about her.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," she said, and she really wanted to believe it. She was willing herself to believe it.

"Well, the restaurant is really quiet, but if you don't like it, I can take you home whenever." She was surprised that he had chosen a quiet restaurant. She had figured he would want to go to one of the trendy places, like Butter, where people were practically sitting on top of one another.

When they got there, she was happily surprised. He hadn't lied; the place was relatively quiet, and the tables were almost hidden from each other, giving the illusion of privacy and an intimate setting. They sat down and ordered and she was starting to relax when she saw the last person she wanted to see tonight.

"Jenny!" Nate called out, but not too loud to bring too much attention. He was guiding his mother in front of him to their table. He smiled at her, but his face fell when he saw Damien, and an expression of anger appeared. She saw him whisper something in his mother's ear, then she continued, and Nate walked over to their table. "What are you doing with him? Does Rufus know you're here?" he seethed.

"Hi, Nate! Nice to see you too! It's been a while, hasn't it?" She ignored his comment, starting to get angry herself. They hadn't been friends since last spring and it irked her that he thought he could still judge what she did and who she did it with. It pissed her off that he chose _then_ to start caring.

Damien sat back in his chair and Jenny wondered what he was thinking. She was shocked at the words that came out of his mouth. "Hi, Nate. Look, I'm really sorry about punching you the last time we saw each other. It was uncalled for; you were just trying to protect Jenny. But I think she's old enough to decide who she wants to hang out with."

Nate was shocked and she could see him clench and unclench his fist. Jenny tried to diffuse the situation before they started to make a scene. "Nate, it's really nice of you to be concerned about me, even though I wonder where you've been for the last six months, but I'm fine. Damien saved my life and I'm very grateful to him, and so is my Dad, which is why he agreed we could go out to dinner tonight." He looked away from her and she knew he was admitting defeat. "Have a nice dinner with your mom. Tell her I said hello and that her dress is beautiful," Jenny said diplomatically. She had learned a few things from her time in the UES.

Nate walked off, but not without giving Damien a withering look. He wasn't even at his table yet when she saw him taking out his phone. "How much do you want to bet he's calling my brother right now?" she said with a sigh and Damien smiled.

"Do we have to worry about him showing up? Because we can leave and go somewhere else, if you want," he said sincerely and she was surprised at how nice he was being. He was always a bit of a jackass on the outside before.

"No, he won't show up. Nate will tell him he'll keep an eye on me." She rolled her eyes and smiled. The whole drama had made her forget that she was in a public place and her nervousness was gone. She was somewhat thankful for that.

The rest of the dinner was uneventful, but not quiet. She had forgotten what good company Damien was and she spent most of the meal laughing over a few anecdotes he told her. He asked her about Hudson and confessed that he had read Gossip Girl to stay up to date on her life. She was flattered but embarrassed that he knew all the mistakes she had made lately, but he didn't judge her and even asked to hear her side of the story. The only thing they didn't talk about was Chuck and she was grateful Damien didn't ask. Though she did wonder why he avoided it.

Before they left, Nate and his mother stopped by their table to say goodbye and Anne told Jenny about a fashion show the young women's charity she sponsored was putting together. Jenny offered her help, but Nate's mom was more interested in Jenny's designs than in her seamstress skills and Jenny was flattered. Anne left them with a promise to get in touch and as they left, Jenny heard her tell Nate what a nice young man Damien seemed to be and she had to restrain herself from laughing out loud.

It was eleven thirty by the time they left the restaurant, and even then, they only left because of her curfew. Jenny had a wonderful time and she wondered if Damien had a good evening too. She felt like all she did was talk about herself and she took inventory of what he had told her about his life during dinner: he had quit dealing drugs after he found her and Serena in the motel room, he didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life, and the situation with his father wasn't getting better.

Once they got in the limo, she looked over at him with a smile, to let him know what a great time she'd had, but she instantly knew he had something to say to her, something she wouldn't be glad to hear.

"I'm going back to Belgium," he blurted.

Jenny felt like he'd stabbed a knife through her heart. "But... I don't get it. I thought we had a nice time and that we were reconnecting," she said hoping he wouldn't hear the hurt in her voice.

"I did have a nice time, a great time even, but... I need to figure out what to do with my life, Jenny. I'm twenty years old; I can't get by on my good looks alone anymore." She didn't smile at his attempt at a joke, too heartbroken to pretend it was funny.

"And you can't do that here? New York's a great place to figure out what to do, there are so many opportunities here!" she said hoping to convince him.

"My uncle offered me a job with one of his companies there. I think it will be good to be with my family. I don't know my aunt and uncle very well, but they've always been really nice to me. And if I stay here, I'm afraid I'll go back to dealing again," he admitted.

"What about your dad?" she asked, and she hated herself instantly. _God, how selfish could she be?_

"My uncle said I need to stop taking responsibility for him and I've always known that, but I think I'm ready to do it. It's time I live my life for me," he said and she could understand that even if she didn't want to.

Even though Jenny was upset, she knew what he was saying made sense. "So, this was what? A goodbye dinner?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well, sort of. But I had a great time and I think maybe we could be friends."

Jenny snorted. "Sure, yeah, we'll be friends. You'll call once or twice, then you'll be busy, and you'll wonder why you even bothered with a seventeen year-old wannabe from Brooklyn."

"No, I promise. I'll be the best long-distance friend you ever had." He smirked.

She looked at him, saw the sincerity in his eyes and realised she really wanted to believe him. She had so few friends in her life right now, who was she to turn one down?


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who decided to read this story even though they're not Damien fans, like my beta starzee. I hope you like it anyways, and to all the Damien fans, hi! I didn't know there were so many of us out there!**

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><p><em>One month later<em>

Jenny stepped out of the school building and waved goodbye to her friends. She'd integrated well in her new school, the only downfall being that Erik wasn't there with her. When Lily had suggested Jenny enrol in another private school instead of going back to Constance, she had jumped at the chance. While Constance was certainly a student's best chance at getting into an Ivy League school, Jenny was more interested in fashion and design. So Jenny, Rufus and Lily looked at all the private high schools in Manhattan that might offer Jenny the best chance of getting into a good design school. After one month of classes, she had to say she could feel the difference. The students were more open-minded, more accepting and Jenny had made friends almost immediately. She was finally around people who understood her and her passion and who made her feel as if she was a part of something bigger than herself instead of looking down their noses at her like how it was at Constance.

That is not to say, however, that she completely let go of the Upper East Side society. She still frequently attended charity events and other social events with Erik or with her family. She was still fascinated by that world, but the difference was that she was content with only being a part of it. She didn't need to be Queen anymore, didn't need to be feared or idolized. The fact that her father married Lily made her a part of this world and she was done justifying whether she belonged there or not.

Damien had kept his promise and had been the best long-distance friend she could have asked for. They talked practically every day, more often than not on video chat. He told her all about working for his uncle and she told him all about school and the parties she attended. He was excited for her when she told him about her projects and she was proud of him when his uncle started giving him more responsibilities. He told her all about his temptation of going back to dealing drugs, to the easy money it brought and he listened when she told him about getting caught up in a scheme with Serena and Blair. Her romantic feelings for him seemed to have gone away for the time being and she became grateful for his friendship instead. She was getting to know him, to really know him, both the person he was and the person he wanted to be, and she felt he really knew her too.

As she started walking home, she grabbed her phone and dialled his number. The time difference meant it was sometimes difficult to reach each other, but if she called him right after school, it was only around 10 o'clock in Europe.

"Hey," he said as a greeting, "no video chat today?"

"Sorry, no time." The truth was she didn't want him to see her while she had the conversation she wanted to have. "I have news, though! Two pieces of news, actually. Well, one's more like information I've been withholding. This whole friendship thing is new between us and I didn't know whether you wanted me to tell you this, or not, and..."

He laughed. "Just spit it out! Whatever it is, I'm sure it's fine. And you know you can tell me anything."  
>She took a deep breath. "Okay... I've been seeing someone."<p>

"A guy?" Came the voice on the other side

"Yes, a guy!" she answered, slightly confounded by his question.

"Well, you said _someone! _I didn't want to assume. So, tell me about him."

She was kind of amused by his reply. "Well, his name's Jeremy and we go to school together. We've been dating for about three weeks now." The truth was they were inseparable and while Jenny thought things were happening fast, she was happy. "He's a nice guy."

"That's good," Damien answered. "If you're happy, then I'm happy for you. And what's your news?"

Jenny got excited as she thought about what she had to tell him. "I'm going to Paris! Lily and my Dad are taking me over the Holidays, so I thought we'd get to see each other!" she said happily.

"Jenny, that's great!" he replied just as happily.

She could hear his enthusiasm and it made her smile.

"Lily said it was crazy that I wanted to be a fashion designer and I'd never been to Paris, so it's going to be my Christmas present. We're only going for a few days, though."

"When?" he asked.

"Over the holidays, I told you," she said confused.

"Dates, I need dates Jenny!"

She laughed. "We're taking the red-eye on the 27th of December and we're coming back on the 3rd of January."

"Okay, well I could probably meet up with you on New year's Eve," he suggested.

"Can you? I mean, if you can't, I can go to Brussels to meet up with you." She really wanted to see him so she had no problem with doing that.

"No, it'll be nice to get out of the city for a couple days."

Jenny nodded, and then realized he couldn't see her. "We'll do that, then. I'm so excited!"

"I can't wait. Are you sure your parents will be okay with us hanging out?"

She could hear the enthusiasm in his voice when he spoke and she was sorry she hadn't waited until she was home and they could talk face to face on her computer. "Yeah, I already asked them and they said it was okay."

They talked a little longer about what Jenny wanted to do while she was there and then they started talking about their days. She and Damien could talk for hours at a time and even after a month she was surprised the conversation never waned. There were always things to talk about, whether it was about the past, the present, or the future. Most of all, Jenny loved that whenever she called, she had his undivided attention.

"Actually," Damien said, interrupting her train of thoughts, "there was something I wanted to talk about too."

"Oh, okay. What is it?"

"I'm thinking of going back to school, business school," he declared.

"Damien, I think it's a great idea!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, my uncle thinks I have a knack for it." He chuckled. "I didn't tell him where it came from, though."

Jenny smiled. She loved his ability to laugh at himself. "You know, they have great business schools in New York," she hinted.

Damien laughed out loud. "I know, but I think I'll still work part-time for my uncle. I like the hands-on learning," he admitted.

Jenny sighed dramatically. "Alright, I suppose that's a good reason to stay."

"I think so too," he replied mockingly.

Jenny could hear the smile in his voice and couldn't help but smile back.

Damien had to hang up just as she arrived at the family Penthouse. She had to admit things were going well for her at the moment. Her relationship with her family was better than ever, she loved school, she had good, positive friends and she had a boyfriend who was kind and respectful. When you added a coming trip to Paris, what else could she wish for?


End file.
